Following rise in the cases of sexual and gender based violence against persons with disabilities, health workers have been charged to make their health facilities accessible to survivors and also to shun negative professional attitudes that could worsen their bad experiences.

A non-governmental organisation, Centre for Women’s Health and Information (CEWHIN), gave this charge at a capacity building training it organised for health workers in Osun State.

The initiative was implemented with the support of the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women (UNTF), as part of efforts to strengthen institutional responses and preventive mechanisms for protecting women and girls with disabilities.

Juliet Olumuyiwa-Rufai, a consultant with CHEWIN, told health service providers at the programme held in Osogbo the need for them to be sensitive, compassionate, welcoming and empathetic while attending to PWDs who have been abused or violated.

She warned the participants against judging survivors of rape and other sexual assaults, stressing the need for the health workers to imbibe in survivor-centered approach by listening to girls and women who have been abused, treat them with respect and provide for them suitable referral and treatment options.

“We trained the health workers in Osun State on how to identify abuse, Gender-Based Violence against Women and Girls, particularly against women and girls with disabilities, how to identify these abuses, how to address them, how to talk to people to prevent these abuses; how to respond to them when they happen, and the places they can refer the survivors to in order to receive treatment,” she said.

According to Mrs Olumuyiwa-Rufai, “It is very important we engage them because they (health workers) are also part of the frontline responders, they are people who work in the hospitals and sometimes people present for malaria but behind the ailment they are declaring, there could also be gender based violence going on. So, they should know how to speak with them, introducing what we call survivor-centered approach, talking to them, listening to them actively, showing compassion, identifying the things they are saying and those they are not saying that are signalling abuse; and how to help these people to understand what they are passing through is an abuse, explain the options that are available to them, treat them nicely with respect.

Because these patients might also need justice, services of the police, shelter, they might need to be rescued, it is important these health workers know this, and there is need for them to collaborate with these relevant stakeholders. Bottom line is that survivors get the justice they need and perpetrators are reported, apprehended and prosecuted.”

She added that the health workers “have now known that they shouldn’t judge or blame survivors, they should show empathy and refer cases that are beyond them.”